Ganpati II

Day 7 Worked all day, didn’t see much. On my way to the train station, though, I did see a group of guys beating on drums and marching through the street.

Day 8 I asked a few of my students about the Ganesh thing and where I should go. They warned me to avoid the main beach because it would be full of drunken crazy people. So maybe I will avoid it. I should be able to walk through my neighborhood over to where the office is and see some of the big statues being carried off to the sea though.

As I was walking home I saw a few of the neighborhood shrines to Ganesh. People were praying and chanting at them. It doesn’t seem that people necessarily have to take part in a regular ceremony to worship. It looked like people just went up and sang and gave offerings as they wanted to. So I don’t think there is a whole lot of organization regarding prayer, I think you just go up and pray whenever. But I did see some groups, and I know that a girl I work with had her whole family over for a puja(prayer), so there are organized services as well. Maybe the services are privately organized, you just get a group together and head out to the shrine?

One shrine had a pretty big statue of Ganesh, and lots of xmas lights all around and a speaker blaring music.

Another one had some smaller statues, but was way more posh looking, with a dripping waterfall and flowers all around.

Day 9 Again, I worked all day. While walking to work I saw a billboard telling me that some cement company wanted to wish me a Happy Ganesh Chapurthi. There was a picture of a smiling woman in a gold and red sari holding a decorative bowl full of pieces of cement. It was weird.

After work I walked over to Marine Drive to see if there was anything Ganesh related going on at Chowpatty Beach. The big day is Tuesday, but people have been doing smaller pujas all week. It didn’t look like there was anything happening though, so I just walked around Marine Drive looking at the view for a while, then went back to the train station.

I ran into yet another procession on my way to the station. A group of people was walking slowly down the street with a small well-decorated effigy of Ganesh. There were a few men playing drums for a larger group of guys who were dancing and jumping along. The women were in a group walking after the statue, wearing bright, pretty saris and talking and laughing.

The men were funny to watch. This must be a cultural thing, but a lot of the dance moves the guys were doing seemed like the movements you would normally see from a girl dancing at a club in the US. I am not really sure how else to describe it. I enjoyed that.

I went down to the end of the block to cross the street and, surprise surprise, hit another procession. Again with the big statue, this one was draped with all sorts of flower garlands. Again, the drums, and again, the pretty ladies.

I made it home without further incident. But I was reminded of this movie Kenneth and I watched a while ago, some Eastern European (Slovakian?) movie. One of the main characters is this ebullient, carefree guy, and he has a band that follows him around his whole life, over the course of all the years the movie covers, who constantly play this background music for the everlasting party that is his life. Imagine being the kind of guy who is so exciting to be with that a band wants to follow you around and keep the action going your whole life. Bombay is starting to feel like it is full of guys like that this week. Hmm. Well, actually, I guess that guy is Ganesh. Bombay is starting to feel like it is full of Ganesh this week, and Ganesh is a serious partier and isn’t taking no for an answer.

Day 10 Didn’t see much in the way of Ganeshness today. It was raining really hard when I left work so I took a rik home instead of exploring. I did drive by a statue of G that must have been 6 feet high fluorescent. The street it was on was lit up like crazy; it looked like there was a multicolored ceiling over the street as we sped by in the rain.

I thought there must be some big G thing going on tonight because I kept hearing roars and clapping as I sat in my house. I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on though, because it kept happening, and it sounded as though it was not moving, as a procession would be if it were going to the sea.

I went out to get some juice. The streets were deserted. Usually there is a ton of traffic buzzing along the bigger roads near where I live, but tonight I could trip across streets at will. Hmm. Strange. And hey, the restaurant on the corner that is always always packed full from 8pm on is practically deserted. Huh. As I walked to the store I saw a thick, tightly packed group of guys crowded around the front of a bar, focused on a television screen. Ah, the (thing that drops when you finally figure out something) dropped. (I forget the saying.) The guys were watching a cricket match. I think there have been some big ones this week, all over the front page. That is why there is universal oohing and aahing and clapping and screaming going on all over my neighborhood. You could literally hear how the match was going from the street.

Since the restaurant was deserted I went in and had some samosas with the 2 guys in Mumbai who apparently don’t care for cricket.